I'm tired of microblog screenshots that self-censor š
Also that's cool. I'm pretty sure I cannot smell ants. But it's also possible there are ants everywhere I go, so I can't discern what part of the background smells are the ants.
I was watching "deep dives" on Youtube yesterday and was getting confused by all the censoring. Even the word "sex" was censored, and like... what? Not just SA (which I understand censoring), but sex itself? In a video ostensibly designed for an adult (or at least teenage) audience?
It's hard to follow a story when words get censored that you don't expect to get censored. In my mind I think something much worse is being said, and have to pause and rewind to ensure I understood correctly. The best part is, the creator wasn't even from the US, land of the Puritans. I expect Europeans not to be afraid of sex, but I guess this is what Youtube is doing to the world?
I mean it's my general experience, not a hard rule. Just because the TikTok algorithm actively promotes content with high interaction without any requirement for accuracy doesn't mean there's no educational information on the platform.
Alternatives:
condensed clips are crossposted to tiktok
self censorship to the strictest level to minimize risk of demonetization
self censorship to avoid a mature rating, so viewers don't have to log in to watch
self censorship to the strictest degree based on all popular platforms' requirements because that is "the internet"
People have always doe weird censorship things as both users and admin. Forums used to **** everything. Then things were free. The big companies started facing public pressure for beings the hosts of content and locked down again.
I'm with you. Can't smell ants, but cilantro is soapy.
There are lots of little genetic quirks out there. I experience Arnold's Reflex, that is, I cough when I stick a cotton swab in my left ear canal. (Only my left. My right doesn't react.) There's also the Photic Sneeze Reflex, which is where you sneeze when looking at light. I don't have that, but around 35% of the population does.
I'm sure there are countless more little things like this that people just haven't talked about/gathered enough data on yet.
I learned about the Photic Sneeze Reflex when discussing the frustration of cancelled sneezes (you know, when you feel one coming on, but then it just doesn't happen and it leaves you feeling weird.) He told me, "When that happens, I just look at a light." I had no idea what he meant. Meanwhile, he thought it was normal for everyone. We both learned something that day.
An entry for ACHOO syndrome in the National Library of Medicine, by a Laura Dean (I think?) from 2012 claims 1 in 4 people will be pushed over the edge to a sneeze when they already have one on the edge, but "pure" photic sneezing is "far less common" although there is no number given, so I have no idea how rare or common it is to just straight up sneeze from light without already having to sneeze
I didn't know about the cough reflex. I'll have to check if it's both sides. Can you taste iodine? It's present in hot pink food dye, making things like pink peeps taste worse than yellow or blue for me
I canāt smell ants, and cilantro tastes soapy. However, I do have dry earwax and my armpits donāt smell. (Which is just spurious information to your hypothesis.)
Idk if scooping them up and putting them outside is scary to them, but I'm told people can smell them just from being in the same room with them, or crushing them, and I've done (or been near) all of the above yet never smelled one. And they're constantly sneaking in my house so I should have by now I think.
Though when I do, I do smell it, and I shower regularly, and it only comes up when talking about stinkbugs, so I'm doubting your hypothesis regardless.
Exactly! Cilantro tastes like soap to me, but my kids love it. That is so weird. Ant smell and probably snake smell are the same I bet. I have heard old people say they can smell a snake around.
I am afraid that cilantro does taste like soap to me but that people around me have been telling me long enough that it's tasty that I started to like it.
iāve had a similar experience, at first it was incredibly soapy to me.
now i genuinely like it and i donāt taste the soap anymore.
how could that work though if itās a genetic trait?
could this be stronger in some variants of cilantro? or even on the culantro/cilantro divide?
I can kind of... plug my sinuses if I'm eating something unappealing? Maybe that's something you've unconsciously started doing when you eat cilantro now?
I'm slightly in this. I love cilantro, but when I heard it tastes like soap to some I just thought "I guess a little bit it does taste that way... but the rest of it tastes better."
I had no idea it was a genetic thing that not everyone has. It's pretty awesome that after fifty years slogging through life, I still run across cool new shit like this
Wow that's really weird because i thought ants were supposed to be everywhere - at least in summertime when you go outside. If they smell that bad then it must be unbearable just walking around places in the city.
I don't think they're talking about the dead/distressed ant smell. To the best of my knowledge, everyone can smell that. They're talking about a general smell of ants
It could be the same smell, maybe just a different concentration of formic acid.
And no, I can't smell anything from dead or distressed ants. I've never smelled anything from an ant, either dead or alive. It's definitely not an "everyone can smell that" thing.
Edit: I just read this comment which says it's not formic acid. Though they don't cite any sources (yet), so I don't really know.
I'm pretty sure that's the smell they're talking about, they make more of it when disturbed or crushed but it's always a tiny bit there. But pretty sure that's the smell they're speaking of.
The reason I doubt that is because I can't smell ants "all the time". And I can definitely smell them when they're disturbed. But most people who talk about smelling ants describe the smell as "damp" or "mouldy" or "earthy", and I have never smelled an ant that smells like that.
The only smell I've ever smelled from them is acrid and acidic, and that only happens when they're disturbed or dead.
I went and read up on it, was going to edit in , but I'll just do it here.
Apparently it isn't the formic acid, it's other chemicals, and not all ants produce them. I have smelled what they're talking about, or at least three descriptions of one kind of ant smelling like funky cheese is something I have run into.
So you're totally right, and my assumption was wrong.
But damn, formic acid, even dilute, really is pungent. Nose wrinkling, sneeze inducing for me.
Edit: after a nap, I read more, and apparently, being able to smell formic acid is a genetic thing. But wading through llm generated bullshit to find more reliable info buried the real lede. As an aside, that's the original word for the phrase; it wasn't lead, it was a newspaper jargon thing, even though lead works just as well as lede.
It was about ants having different smells, caused when either threatened or injured for the most part.
Specifically, as an example I remembered because I've smelled it, the most common upper of ant you'll find in houses (here in the US anyway) smells cheesy. It's even called the odorous house ant. That's because of a type of chemical called methyl ketones. Ketones are basically really volatile organic compounds; acetone is a ketone.
Now, regarding what some people can't smell vs those that can, reports were mixed. But, it does seem that formic acid can't be smelled by everyone, and some ketones can't be smelled by everyone. You either have the right genes active or you don't. But, apparently, tiktok has yet again caused problems with inaccurate info spread, so people think that you either smell ants, or you don't, which isn't the case, it comes down to the chemicals they produce, and those vary.
That being said, there is still the possibility that the reason any given individual hasn't smelled ants is because they've never gotten close enough, or run across large numbers of the little ladies in one place. Most people aren't going to get close to a bunch of crushed ants, and if ants are alive chances are you aren't getting close enough to take a sniff unless you're a real weirdo.
And yes, I'm one of those weirdos that has gotten up close to both living and dead ants. Not to sniff them, but out of curiosity. Hence why I have smelled them in small numbers as well as larger groups. Some ants are really unconcerned about something the size of a human, particularly when it moves slowly enough not to seem like an insectivore coming in for a meal. So you can, if you're careful, get up close enough to use a magnifying glass to get better looks at them doing their thing (and don't burn them, it's not at all okay).
When you get that close, even though there's no alarm pheromones, every ant type I ever got close to had that pungent, acrid smell of formic acid. It's similar to vinegar or other acids that you might use around the house, but definitely not the same. Like I said elsewhere, it's earthier and more pungent.
My area has some red ants, and if enough of those die, they smell like pepper. As in standard table pepper.
Fascinating! I've seen massive groups of ants before, and I've watched them because it's just so cool to see. I never got down and tried to smell them, though.
Now your comment has me thinking of my dad. He has an uncanny sense of smell far beyond what I have. There are some flowers I can't smell unless I bend close to them, but which he can smell from across a field. I'll have to check with him and see if he can smell ants.
Depends. With North American formica ants, it's formic acid, but with Canadian odorous house ants, it's a methyl ketone that smells a lot like blue cheese.
I think I can hear ants. People probably think Iām crazy. Like if you bend down and get your face really close to their trail. Itās like a buzzing sound. Like static on an old TV. Creepy as fuck.
Could it just be the reflections of ambient noise you also get when you hold your ear close to any surface? The old "If you hold a seashell to your ear, you can hear the ocean" kind of thing.
You're the first person I've ever heard say you can hear buzzing sound of ants. I don't doubt you, because why would you lie about something like that, but I would like to hear more people agree they can hear this and I want to read a scientific study.
Iām also terrified of having insects inside of the house. So itās possible this is some kind of psychological reaction (?) rather than actually hearing them? But to me it āsoundsā as I describe in the above post. Maybe someone can find something more scientific, like a study, I too would be curious.
Not just crushed ants, I smell it when they're scared and running, but undamaged, as well. Calm ants though, they don't smell to me. I always assumed it was a warning chemical to other ants, or a deterrent for predators with more sensitive sniffers than I.
Now I need to know what I'm missing out on... I know the smell of formic acid, and can smell it if andts are really pissed off - but do they just smell?
I don't know. This is the first time in my life I have ever heard about people smelling ants. I have a really good sense of smell normally, but I have never smelled ants. Never heard anybody say they could smell them either. So, I think it might be quite common.
I'm not exactly sure. My sense of smell has been shot since I got covid. It feels so weird. Some smells don't exist, some are much stronger, some remained the same.
One good example is burning anything while cooking.
I can just feel it though. If I'm itchy while in my kitchen, 9/10 it's ants (ground floor old apartment)
I never knew about this. Is this the same gene which makes people like/dislike bitter foods?
Years ago at a place I worked at, food manufacturers, the R&D team did a taste workshop. 5 cups of flavours, salt, bitter, water, umami, sweet. The bitter one just tasted of water to me. They called it "bitter blind"
Thereās a couple different chemical compounds that can activate your bitter receptors (caffeine for instance) but there are a few bitter chemicals like Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) or N-Propylthiouracil (PROP) that have been linked to variations in a specific gene (TAS2R38). Where I used to work we used PROP strips youād just put on your tongue to categorize participants into tasters, non-tasters, and potential super-tasters. If it tasted like nothing, you didnāt have the genetic variant. If it tasted like bitterness, it could either be not that bad or, for example in my experience, itās really really terrible and takes some effort to remove from the tongue.
I know I should quit vaping, but I'm also so glad my nose isn't sensitive enough to smell that from random guys walking by anymore. It was constant tmi
The threads I've seen have a lot of replies of people who say they can smell it. One replied to me here. I suppose I tend to believe them because it would be a pointless thing to lie about and also the say it smells like sex so it seems plausible.
Damn I'm naive. Well, guess I helped perpetuate it. Yeah I can't find many studies on people randomly having really sensitive olfactory senses either. Unless you count individual people who can smell stuff like Parkinson's
some ants when attacked do produce a small (probably by spraying chemicals that is supposed to paralyses/repel other small insects). that I can smell but I can't smell an ant peacefully walking around.
Yes, beetles in general don't smell great to me. They leave a fecal-like scent on my fingers when I hold them (Which I've always assumed is some sort of musk and not actual feces). I can smell ants too, but it's only when they're scared: They seem to release a chemical that smells to me like Windex the moment they realize they're possibly in danger. I didn't know that made me special, but I do know that others might not be able to smell it as I've had conversations about this with people who didn't know wtf I was talking about. I've heard that it might be formic acid? Not sure.
Funny because I don't normally have a very sensitive nose. And I'm not a super-taster, cilantro tastes like cilantro to me (Fresh and herbally).
Not all of them do. I always thought of them as "good" and "bad" ladybugs. The bad ones stink. I have a feeling it correlates with lighter color. More orange than red. But this is purely anecdotal š
Well, how do you know it isn't just the smell of the enviroment? I always smell a distinctive smell around ants in the forest, but I don't know if that's actually just the smell of their hill (is it actually called a hill) or of ants.
I'm not surprised to learn this, given that there are certain tastes that are generic. The "cilantro tastes like soap" mutation, and the "bitter vegetables are good actually" mutation come to mind.
Specifically in this case, at the very least it includes wild cabbage cultivars: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and I think I'm forgetting one or two. People with one copy of the mutation tend to like such vegetables to some degree or another, well people with two copies of the mutation don't even taste the bitterness. The taste of bitterness evolved primarily to detect poisonous plants.
Called evolution. Yes, it's still ongoing in humans. Btw, this is one of the reasons that smaller populations have less survival chances (the other being inbreeding).
Ants will creep in. You will attempt your triumphant self sufficient middle of nowhere meal of rocks and soil. When your fire fails, Youll rip open your last remaining stash of nutritiuous gruel and stuff a handful in your mouth, and taste that acid.
158 Comments
cybervseas@lemmy.world · 187 pts · 195d
I'm tired of microblog screenshots that self-censor š
Also that's cool. I'm pretty sure I cannot smell ants. But it's also possible there are ants everywhere I go, so I can't discern what part of the background smells are the ants.
LorIps@lemmy.world · 68 pts · 195d
FUCK
tetris11@feddit.uk · 55 pts · 195d
FUCK
vaionko@sopuli.xyz · 51 pts · 195d
FUCK
Deceptichum@quokk.au · 21 pts · 195d
idyllic@leminal.space · 25 pts · 195d
fartographer@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
My Jewish Jesus appreciates your dedication to the cause.
te_abstract_art@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 194d
FUCKWhats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 195d
I was watching "deep dives" on Youtube yesterday and was getting confused by all the censoring. Even the word "sex" was censored, and like... what? Not just SA (which I understand censoring), but sex itself? In a video ostensibly designed for an adult (or at least teenage) audience?
It's hard to follow a story when words get censored that you don't expect to get censored. In my mind I think something much worse is being said, and have to pause and rewind to ensure I understood correctly. The best part is, the creator wasn't even from the US, land of the Puritans. I expect Europeans not to be afraid of sex, but I guess this is what Youtube is doing to the world?
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 195d
That degree of censorship usually implies the content is dual posted to TikTok in my experience
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 195d
Thatās weird, because the videos I watch are 1-2 hours long (or longer.) Informational deep dives are practically the opposite of Tik Tok.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 195d
I mean it's my general experience, not a hard rule. Just because the TikTok algorithm actively promotes content with high interaction without any requirement for accuracy doesn't mean there's no educational information on the platform.
Alternatives:
People have always doe weird censorship things as both users and admin. Forums used to **** everything. Then things were free. The big companies started facing public pressure for beings the hosts of content and locked down again.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 194d
No smell has ever elevated when I near an ant colony, and I see wild ant colonies all the time. So I'm pretty sure I can't.
ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 195d
People complaining about the censorship is significantly more annoying than the actual tiny little blur on one single letter in one single word.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 195d
Still not as annoying as the people who complain about the complaints.
Lemminary@lemmy.world · 118 pts · 195d
Whatever, keep your ant-smelling superpower, I'm not jealous. At least cilantro doesn't taste like soap to me! :P
kautau@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 195d
We need a study on if thatās the divide. If you can smell ants you also think cilantro tastes like soap
lengau@midwest.social · 36 pts · 195d
Cilantro: tastes like soap
Can smell ants: no
Sorry, I'm a counterpoint. I got the worst of both.
kautau@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 195d
But do ants taste like soap or cilantro
dunz@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 195d
They taste kind of almost vinegarey
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 195d
I'm with you. Can't smell ants, but cilantro is soapy.
There are lots of little genetic quirks out there. I experience Arnold's Reflex, that is, I cough when I stick a cotton swab in my left ear canal. (Only my left. My right doesn't react.) There's also the Photic Sneeze Reflex, which is where you sneeze when looking at light. I don't have that, but around 35% of the population does.
I'm sure there are countless more little things like this that people just haven't talked about/gathered enough data on yet.
Denvil@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 195d
Every single time I walk outside, 3 sneezes sometimes more because of the sun. Although I've never met somebody else who does the same
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 195d
I learned about the Photic Sneeze Reflex when discussing the frustration of cancelled sneezes (you know, when you feel one coming on, but then it just doesn't happen and it leaves you feeling weird.) He told me, "When that happens, I just look at a light." I had no idea what he meant. Meanwhile, he thought it was normal for everyone. We both learned something that day.
Denvil@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 194d
An entry for ACHOO syndrome in the National Library of Medicine, by a Laura Dean (I think?) from 2012 claims 1 in 4 people will be pushed over the edge to a sneeze when they already have one on the edge, but "pure" photic sneezing is "far less common" although there is no number given, so I have no idea how rare or common it is to just straight up sneeze from light without already having to sneeze
Ignis@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 195d
My mom does that, but I believe it may be a sign of a tick, or at least thatās what my father once told me. Worth checking out in any case.
Denvil@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 194d
Either I've had a tick for the past 19 years, or its unrelated in my case
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 195d
I didn't know about the cough reflex. I'll have to check if it's both sides. Can you taste iodine? It's present in hot pink food dye, making things like pink peeps taste worse than yellow or blue for me
Monument@lemmy.sdf.org · 13 pts · 195d
I canāt smell ants, and cilantro tastes soapy. However, I do have dry earwax and my armpits donāt smell. (Which is just spurious information to your hypothesis.)
Skullgrid@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 195d
but can you roll your tongue?
Monument@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 195d
I cannot!
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 12 pts · 195d
Can smell ants, love cilantro, can't smell stinkbugs.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com · 9 pts · 195d
Stinkbugs only smell bad if you scare them. They never smell bad to me, either, but I also try not to scare insects.
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 195d
Idk if scooping them up and putting them outside is scary to them, but I'm told people can smell them just from being in the same room with them, or crushing them, and I've done (or been near) all of the above yet never smelled one. And they're constantly sneaking in my house so I should have by now I think.
Zanathos@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 195d
It's smarter to release them back outside because crushing them releases a pharamone that attract more stink bugs. Ants and bees do the same too.
Smoogs@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 195d
Maybe itās you who has bo and just canāt smell it. Everyone else has been hinting.
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 195d
Do stink bugs smell like BO?
Though when I do, I do smell it, and I shower regularly, and it only comes up when talking about stinkbugs, so I'm doubting your hypothesis regardless.
GoddessLabsOnline@lemmynsfw.com · 2 pts · 195d
When the ant wars come you'll be the first to go.
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 195d
Eh we survived the last one in '54, we'll survive this one. We even made a Doc about it called "Them!"
Wilco@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 195d
Exactly! Cilantro tastes like soap to me, but my kids love it. That is so weird. Ant smell and probably snake smell are the same I bet. I have heard old people say they can smell a snake around.
KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz · 15 pts · 195d
I am afraid that cilantro does taste like soap to me but that people around me have been telling me long enough that it's tasty that I started to like it.
Tldr: I now like the taste of soap.
e8CArkcAuLE@piefed.social · 3 pts · 195d
iāve had a similar experience, at first it was incredibly soapy to me. now i genuinely like it and i donāt taste the soap anymore. how could that work though if itās a genetic trait? could this be stronger in some variants of cilantro? or even on the culantro/cilantro divide?
KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 194d
I guess we are partly nature, partly nurture?
Danquebec@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 195d
Same experience here.
GoddessLabsOnline@lemmynsfw.com · 1 pts · 195d
I can kind of... plug my sinuses if I'm eating something unappealing? Maybe that's something you've unconsciously started doing when you eat cilantro now?
chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 195d
I'm slightly in this. I love cilantro, but when I heard it tastes like soap to some I just thought "I guess a little bit it does taste that way... but the rest of it tastes better."
KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 194d
Haha. Exactly.
ameancow@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 195d
Skullgrid@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 195d
this is your thread! Go nuts!
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 68 pts · 195d
I had no idea it was a genetic thing that not everyone has. It's pretty awesome that after fifty years slogging through life, I still run across cool new shit like this
Crazyslinkz@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 195d
Your part of the ten thousand...
https://xkcd.com/1053/
bitwolf@sh.itjust.works · 58 pts · 195d
That's the most useless censoring of the word "Fuck" I have ever seen š
bleistift2@sopuli.xyz · 30 pts · 195d
mysticalone@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 195d
Why did you censor a small mushroom?
Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 195d
That mushroom is average-sized my good sir.
Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 195d
What'cha got there, m8?
Smoogs@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 195d
It looked like it was originally meant to censore word much smalller
TomAwsm@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 195d
What is this, censoring for ants!?
FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world · 52 pts · 195d
Wow that's really weird because i thought ants were supposed to be everywhere - at least in summertime when you go outside. If they smell that bad then it must be unbearable just walking around places in the city.
starik@lemmy.zip · 32 pts · 195d
I can only smell them if I sniff a crushed one up close. Itās been a long time - I donāt step on bugs on purpose.
ada@piefed.blahaj.zone · 30 pts · 195d
I don't think they're talking about the dead/distressed ant smell. To the best of my knowledge, everyone can smell that. They're talking about a general smell of ants
LeapSecond@lemmy.zip · 28 pts · 195d
Wait, everyone can smell dead ants? Pretty sure I can't
em2@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 195d
They smell like paint thinner
edwardbear@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 195d
they smell funky, a bit like a salty battery doused with acid, if it makes sense?
VoteNixon2016@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 11 pts · 195d
I can't smell them, but I can hear them
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 195d
It could be the same smell, maybe just a different concentration of formic acid.
And no, I can't smell anything from dead or distressed ants. I've never smelled anything from an ant, either dead or alive. It's definitely not an "everyone can smell that" thing.
Edit: I just read this comment which says it's not formic acid. Though they don't cite any sources (yet), so I don't really know.
Danquebec@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 195d
Same, never smelled ants.
And I've watched ants a lot when I was a kid. I still do sometimes.
I used to even bring pieces of food from the pantry to give to the ants.
Biffsbraincell@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 195d
I'm pretty sure that's the smell they're talking about, they make more of it when disturbed or crushed but it's always a tiny bit there. But pretty sure that's the smell they're speaking of.
ada@piefed.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 195d
The reason I doubt that is because I can't smell ants "all the time". And I can definitely smell them when they're disturbed. But most people who talk about smelling ants describe the smell as "damp" or "mouldy" or "earthy", and I have never smelled an ant that smells like that.
The only smell I've ever smelled from them is acrid and acidic, and that only happens when they're disturbed or dead.
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 34 pts · 196d
Is it the formic acid?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 195d
Has to be, it's got that same "bite" that other acids have, only a little more earthy
j5906@feddit.org · 8 pts · 195d
I cant smell ants but I can "smell" formic acid. Even diluted formic acid is so much more pungent and terrible then vinegar, so I doubt its that...
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 195d
I went and read up on it, was going to edit in , but I'll just do it here.
Apparently it isn't the formic acid, it's other chemicals, and not all ants produce them. I have smelled what they're talking about, or at least three descriptions of one kind of ant smelling like funky cheese is something I have run into.
So you're totally right, and my assumption was wrong.
But damn, formic acid, even dilute, really is pungent. Nose wrinkling, sneeze inducing for me.
Edit: after a nap, I read more, and apparently, being able to smell formic acid is a genetic thing. But wading through llm generated bullshit to find more reliable info buried the real lede. As an aside, that's the original word for the phrase; it wasn't lead, it was a newspaper jargon thing, even though lead works just as well as lede.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 195d
Yeah so i paid a team of experts to do my job
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 195d
Wise choice!
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
Care to share what you read? I'm curious, too.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 195d
It was about ants having different smells, caused when either threatened or injured for the most part.
Specifically, as an example I remembered because I've smelled it, the most common upper of ant you'll find in houses (here in the US anyway) smells cheesy. It's even called the odorous house ant. That's because of a type of chemical called methyl ketones. Ketones are basically really volatile organic compounds; acetone is a ketone.
Now, regarding what some people can't smell vs those that can, reports were mixed. But, it does seem that formic acid can't be smelled by everyone, and some ketones can't be smelled by everyone. You either have the right genes active or you don't. But, apparently, tiktok has yet again caused problems with inaccurate info spread, so people think that you either smell ants, or you don't, which isn't the case, it comes down to the chemicals they produce, and those vary.
That being said, there is still the possibility that the reason any given individual hasn't smelled ants is because they've never gotten close enough, or run across large numbers of the little ladies in one place. Most people aren't going to get close to a bunch of crushed ants, and if ants are alive chances are you aren't getting close enough to take a sniff unless you're a real weirdo.
And yes, I'm one of those weirdos that has gotten up close to both living and dead ants. Not to sniff them, but out of curiosity. Hence why I have smelled them in small numbers as well as larger groups. Some ants are really unconcerned about something the size of a human, particularly when it moves slowly enough not to seem like an insectivore coming in for a meal. So you can, if you're careful, get up close enough to use a magnifying glass to get better looks at them doing their thing (and don't burn them, it's not at all okay).
When you get that close, even though there's no alarm pheromones, every ant type I ever got close to had that pungent, acrid smell of formic acid. It's similar to vinegar or other acids that you might use around the house, but definitely not the same. Like I said elsewhere, it's earthier and more pungent.
My area has some red ants, and if enough of those die, they smell like pepper. As in standard table pepper.
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 194d
Fascinating! I've seen massive groups of ants before, and I've watched them because it's just so cool to see. I never got down and tried to smell them, though.
Now your comment has me thinking of my dad. He has an uncanny sense of smell far beyond what I have. There are some flowers I can't smell unless I bend close to them, but which he can smell from across a field. I'll have to check with him and see if he can smell ants.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 195d
Yeah
AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 195d
Depends. With North American formica ants, it's formic acid, but with Canadian odorous house ants, it's a methyl ketone that smells a lot like blue cheese.
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 2 pts · 195d
Oh, so stinky feet smell?
AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 195d
Kinda? I'd almost describe it as halfway between stinky feet and the smell that stink bugs give off.
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 30 pts · 195d
I think I can hear ants. People probably think Iām crazy. Like if you bend down and get your face really close to their trail. Itās like a buzzing sound. Like static on an old TV. Creepy as fuck.
9blb@feddit.org · 18 pts · 195d
Could it just be the reflections of ambient noise you also get when you hold your ear close to any surface? The old "If you hold a seashell to your ear, you can hear the ocean" kind of thing.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com · 4 pts · 195d
Ants definitely produce sound when they walk. And why wouldn't they?
Loui@feddit.org · 3 pts · 195d
I usually can't but when hiking in fall we came to a big anthill and you could hear the leaves rustling below their little legs.
I was so exited as I had never heard that before.
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
You're the first person I've ever heard say you can hear buzzing sound of ants. I don't doubt you, because why would you lie about something like that, but I would like to hear more people agree they can hear this and I want to read a scientific study.
BoosBeau@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 195d
That person is a liar!! I listen to ants all the time and the only sound they make is smooth jazz.
gigastasio@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 195d
Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 195d
He said ants, not aunts.
BoosBeau@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 194d
Oh my bad, I'm hard of hearing. Been listening to too many aunts.
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 195d
Iām also terrified of having insects inside of the house. So itās possible this is some kind of psychological reaction (?) rather than actually hearing them? But to me it āsoundsā as I describe in the above post. Maybe someone can find something more scientific, like a study, I too would be curious.
ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 195d
STOP FUCKING POSTING CENSORED SHIT
vivalapivo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 194d
Yeah, right? As if they were censoring only the victims' personal info
childOfMagenta@jlai.lu · 24 pts · 195d
Are we talking formic acid from crushed ants or just there is an ant around and they can smell it?
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net · 10 pts · 195d
Not just crushed ants, I smell it when they're scared and running, but undamaged, as well. Calm ants though, they don't smell to me. I always assumed it was a warning chemical to other ants, or a deterrent for predators with more sensitive sniffers than I.
AlboTheGuy@feddit.nl · 4 pts · 194d
Exactly, ants literally spray formic acid at anything that threatens them
lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 7 pts · 195d
I smell it either way but it's stronger when they're crushed.
kandoh@reddthat.com · 10 pts · 195d
That's true of most animals
SethTaylor@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 194d
Sometimes science do be cruel like that
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 21 pts · 195d
It smells so weird and strong. I'm surprised not everyone can smell this. I wonder how common this is?
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz · 12 pts · 195d
Now I need to know what I'm missing out on... I know the smell of formic acid, and can smell it if andts are really pissed off - but do they just smell?
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 14 pts · 195d
I usually only smell it after they are agitated. I assume that's what they meant? But usually when I'm smelling ants they are agitated.
mrmisses@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 195d
Can you smell other insects or is it just ants? Any type of ant?
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 195d
Most insects don't have a strong odor. It's all types of ants as far as I've noticed.
With ants I typically notice it on my hands after I've touched them. So it's strong enough to linger in that way.
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 195d
I don't think I've touched an ant since I was a kid.
Shelena@feddit.nl · 4 pts · 195d
I don't know. This is the first time in my life I have ever heard about people smelling ants. I have a really good sense of smell normally, but I have never smelled ants. Never heard anybody say they could smell them either. So, I think it might be quite common.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 195d
Omg the ants are so smelly
notthebees@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 192d
I'm not exactly sure. My sense of smell has been shot since I got covid. It feels so weird. Some smells don't exist, some are much stronger, some remained the same.
One good example is burning anything while cooking.
I can just feel it though. If I'm itchy while in my kitchen, 9/10 it's ants (ground floor old apartment)
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk · 19 pts · 195d
I never knew about this. Is this the same gene which makes people like/dislike bitter foods?
Years ago at a place I worked at, food manufacturers, the R&D team did a taste workshop. 5 cups of flavours, salt, bitter, water, umami, sweet. The bitter one just tasted of water to me. They called it "bitter blind"
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org · 36 pts · 195d
Probably makes you easier to poison. I will keep that in mind.
ameancow@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 195d
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 195d
That's about the closest descriptor I can think of as well. Ants are more metallic to my scent than mushies but thatās it.
ameancow@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 195d
I havenāt tried truffles.
Funnily enough I like mushrooms. The smell of ants never used to bother me that much either; finding out itās selective is intriguing.
Klairabelle@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 195d
Thereās a couple different chemical compounds that can activate your bitter receptors (caffeine for instance) but there are a few bitter chemicals like Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) or N-Propylthiouracil (PROP) that have been linked to variations in a specific gene (TAS2R38). Where I used to work we used PROP strips youād just put on your tongue to categorize participants into tasters, non-tasters, and potential super-tasters. If it tasted like nothing, you didnāt have the genetic variant. If it tasted like bitterness, it could either be not that bad or, for example in my experience, itās really really terrible and takes some effort to remove from the tongue.
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 16 pts · 195d
Is this like how some people can smell if a dude jorked it that day?
radiouser@crazypeople.online · 16 pts · 195d
no wonder why people avoid me.
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 195d
jorked. ok
HurricaneLiz@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 195d
I know I should quit vaping, but I'm also so glad my nose isn't sensitive enough to smell that from random guys walking by anymore. It was constant tmi
ameancow@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 195d
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 195d
The threads I've seen have a lot of replies of people who say they can smell it. One replied to me here. I suppose I tend to believe them because it would be a pointless thing to lie about and also the say it smells like sex so it seems plausible.
ameancow@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 195d
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 195d
Damn I'm naive. Well, guess I helped perpetuate it. Yeah I can't find many studies on people randomly having really sensitive olfactory senses either. Unless you count individual people who can smell stuff like Parkinson's
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 0 pts · 195d
So correct but I recommend some editing.
sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 195d
some ants when attacked do produce a small (probably by spraying chemicals that is supposed to paralyses/repel other small insects). that I can smell but I can't smell an ant peacefully walking around.
tamal3@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 195d
Does everyone agree that ladybugs smell terrible??!
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 195d
Yes, beetles in general don't smell great to me. They leave a fecal-like scent on my fingers when I hold them (Which I've always assumed is some sort of musk and not actual feces). I can smell ants too, but it's only when they're scared: They seem to release a chemical that smells to me like Windex the moment they realize they're possibly in danger. I didn't know that made me special, but I do know that others might not be able to smell it as I've had conversations about this with people who didn't know wtf I was talking about. I've heard that it might be formic acid? Not sure.
Funny because I don't normally have a very sensitive nose. And I'm not a super-taster, cilantro tastes like cilantro to me (Fresh and herbally).
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 195d
Yes! I'm not super sensitive to them, but one time in school I had one land on me and curiosity got the better of me. Never again!
4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 194d
Not all of them do. I always thought of them as "good" and "bad" ladybugs. The bad ones stink. I have a feeling it correlates with lighter color. More orange than red. But this is purely anecdotal š
alt_xa_23@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 194d
If you live in the US, the orange ones may be Asian lady beetles, an invasive species. They don't smell great.
The ones that come into your home in the winter are probably Asian lady beetles, as true ladybugs overwinter outside.
toynbee@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 194d
This reminds me of when I chatted with someone who had synesthesia.
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 195d
Some people can smell ants. Some people can smell Parkinson's disease.
I don't think I can smell either of those but I can smell B.O.
tomjuggler@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 195d
I'll bet you CAN taste ants though
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
I know what ants taste like. I don't want to know, but I do.
Soapbox@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 194d
I used to eat them as a kid to freak out my friends. I don't remember them tasting like much of anything. Maybe a bit like dirt or something.
JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz · 9 pts · 195d
Well, how do you know it isn't just the smell of the enviroment? I always smell a distinctive smell around ants in the forest, but I don't know if that's actually just the smell of their hill (is it actually called a hill) or of ants.
sartalon@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 195d
My anecdotal experience.
I was in SERE school, in the US Navy.
We were in the field portion of the training, the low mountains of SoCal.
I would periodically get this weird, almost bitter smell. Fast forward a day and I realized the smell was when there was an ant on me.
I don't know if it was a combo of the environment, the type of ant, the lack of food or showering for a few days, but it was pretty reliable.
After SERE was over, I have never experienced it again.
rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social · 3 pts · 195d
If you smell a distinct smell around ants, maybe it's the ants that you're smelling.
BillyClark@piefed.social · 8 pts · 195d
I'm pretty sure I've smelled a dead fly before, but not like Lee Mack.
bluegreenpurplepink@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 195d
I can smell earthworms when it rains. It's gross.
fizzle@quokk.au · 14 pts · 195d
How do you discerne between the smell of rain and that of earthworms ?
mEEGal@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 195d
The rain doesn't talk to you
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 195d
Speak for yourself.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 195d
I can smell worms, period, but I don't think it's gross.
Omnipitaph@reddthat.com · 7 pts · 195d
TIL I'm a mutant. X-men watch out!
Etterra@discuss.online · 7 pts · 195d
I'm not surprised to learn this, given that there are certain tastes that are generic. The "cilantro tastes like soap" mutation, and the "bitter vegetables are good actually" mutation come to mind.
callyral@pawb.social · 1 pts · 195d
Which vegetables are supposed to be bitter?
ReiRose@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 195d
Bitter melon. I have two friends that love it, I cant stand it
Tonava@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 195d
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 195d
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts are the two ones which come to mind.
rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social · 3 pts · 195d
Never heard of them being called bitter
Etterra@discuss.online · 2 pts · 194d
Congrats, you're a mutant!
rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social · 2 pts · 194d
Thanks, I feel two things.
Special
And that this is just bs and someone's taking the piss.
rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social · 1 pts · 194d
Ok now I know they're all lieing, someone just claimed that cucumber is bitter!
Etterra@discuss.online · 1 pts · 195d
Specifically in this case, at the very least it includes wild cabbage cultivars: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and I think I'm forgetting one or two. People with one copy of the mutation tend to like such vegetables to some degree or another, well people with two copies of the mutation don't even taste the bitterness. The taste of bitterness evolved primarily to detect poisonous plants.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net · 6 pts · 195d
My friend really doesn't like when I shapeshift into an ant because of the smell
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 195d
Are you sure it happens when you shape shift?
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net · 3 pts · 195d
Yeah, She really hates the smell of ants. If I turn into an ant She'd rather leave the room until I turn into something else.
Deceptichum@quokk.au · 5 pts · 195d
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 195d
Called evolution. Yes, it's still ongoing in humans. Btw, this is one of the reasons that smaller populations have less survival chances (the other being inbreeding).
I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 195d
There is a type of ant that smells like rotten coconut when squished. Is that what they're talking about?
iSeth@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 195d
Some people can smell unsquished ants afaik
texture@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 194d
i can smell fruit flies and i wish i couldnt
anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 195d
Homo Orycteropus.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 195d
Ants will creep in. You will attempt your triumphant self sufficient middle of nowhere meal of rocks and soil. When your fire fails, Youll rip open your last remaining stash of nutritiuous gruel and stuff a handful in your mouth, and taste that acid.
notthebees@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 195d
I can't smell it but I can feel it. I just get really itchy.
Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 195d
When an idea gets to tiktok, the lines are as written as any script.